Most people who know a little about Internet tech know that JavaScript is the scripting language for Web pages. It adds interaction, verifies form inputs, and makes pages livelier and more useful. Not as many people know that JavaScript is one of the fastest-growing languages for server-side development. Today a website can use the same language behind the scenes that it uses on its pages, allowing tighter connections between client and server.

Throughout Europe, and in several other parts of the world, there's a longstanding tradition called the "gap year." In the year immediately following high school graduation, students will travel the world in order to expand their knowledge and better themselves before coming home to start college and make the final decision about their major.

It's not hard to fall through the cracks, ending up among the weeds when you're interviewing for a coding position. There are plenty of great tips out there for nailing your interview once you're there, but even with the best coding skills available, you have to get that interview in order to show off your skills. If you want to land an interview with the company you want to work for, ignore the rules and try these tips instead.

You might think the need for coding skills applies only to programmers, but that is far from the case. This popular STEM skill has found its way into nearly every industry and is quickly becoming a skill.

Our DNA is, in a sense, the operating code for our bodies. We can describe it as sequences of base-4 symbols. If we just had the documentation for the hardware and the operating system, we could change the code to fix bugs. We could correct copying errors. People could avoid passing on genetic diseases to their children.

We have all seen it happen in the movies. A person walks into a room and says “lights” and the lights in the room come on. Sometimes, these fictional characters can operate their computer through an interface built into the kitchen table while they have their morning coffee. Then, there is the character that pulls up a 3-D display in mid-air then interacts with it, molding and shaping the data with simple gestures. 10 years ago this may have just been fiction, but with today’s computer interface advances, some of these “fictions” are quickly becoming a reality. The MIT Technology review wrote an article that highlights some of the interfaces that will someday become mainstream. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

Security is vital to the devices on the IoT, and too often it's not strong enough. Botnets grab up connected devices that aren't properly secured. When in industry play critical safety roles, the stakes are even higher. A compromised device regulating a machine could make it catch fire. A dangerous condition could go unreported, or false alarms could draw attention and resources away from real problems. These devices need to aim for six sigma security — 99.999996% defect-free operation. Meeting this need will require a radically new approach to their software.

What does it take to bring a software idea to life? Lots of skilled development work. The initial idea is vital, but as Thomas Edison once said, "Two percent is genius, and ninety-eight percent is hard work." Someone devises an idea, such as blockchains, augmented reality, the World Wide Web, or social networks. Turning it into a deliverable product takes the work of designers, software developers, and testers. Lots of work.

There are more opportunities than ever for programmers who want to work in emerging computer technologies. From The Internet of Things (IoT) to blockchain to virtual reality, there is no shortage of exciting fields that can provide novel work with bountiful pay and high personal fulfillment.

Tech media continues to analyze The Internet of Things, though it's perhaps still a mystifying subject for you if you haven't caught up. Otherwise known as IoT for short, this technology is already revolutionizing the way we look at Internet creating more efficiency in our lives. With 18.2 billion connected devices already available around the world, this is only going to double to 50 billion within the start of the next decade.

An online job-hunting platform dedicated to helping those without college degrees find skills-based jobs, officially launched Thursday in Colorado, the first state to have access to the service.

Called Skillful, the service combines online tools and on-the-ground resources to connect job-hunters to jobs and training. It also works with employers to offer tools and advisors to broaden their talent pool by creating skills-based job descriptions.

The DaVinci Institute has office space available to small - midsize tech companies and startups in order to spur growth in the Westminster Colorado tech industry. Their coding bootcamp is a great resource for these companies to find junior level developer talent and help continue their training with real world experience.

Trust us, when you learn to code Ruby on Rails or JavaScript, you’re going to be very employable. These are the top two languages in an industry where there are five jobs for every one web developer. So when it comes to your decision to learn to code, make sure you keep the following in mind.

Colorado bootcamp, DaVinci Coders is now offering professional level training to re-skill experienced web developers and software engineers in Apple's new iOS language, Swift. Not only will students learn how to code in Swift within the 2-week full-immersion course, but they will also learn how to improve their development techniques and skills, making them more efficient computer programmers.

Colorado Coding Bootcamp, DaVinci Coders, is now set to offer an alternative credential, a Microdegree®, for its computer development and programming training courses

Louisville, Colorado – (April 9, 2015) – DaVinci Coders, a Louisville, Colorado-based coding school, is the first in the nation to be given Microdegree-granting authority for its 11-13 week courses on Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Swift/iOS, and Game Development.

Working as a launch-partner with Atlanta based Edevate, the Microdegree® is a digital credential certifying that someone has completed 1,000-hours of learning in a professional discipline including a minimum of 500 contact hours in certified educational programs. Completing a Microdegree® will be the academic equivalent of a full-year of undergraduate upper-level courses.

According to Gordon Rogers, President and Cofounder of Edevate, “Our goal is to reinvent credentialing. This is similar to the introduction of iTunes, which offered consumers the option to purchase a single track instead of the entire album.”

Expanding the notion of credentialing, Edevate plans to offer Microdegrees to students completing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), coding schools, and other competency-based programs. The Microdegree™ is similar to Udacity’s Nanodegree, but it is institutionally agnostic, meaning that it can be earned by combining programs offered through many different institutions, with the freedom to stack and blend different types of educational experiences.

Students who are granted a Microdegree™ will receive a secure PDF diploma and a digital badge linked to a transcript describing the educational experience.

Microdegree candidates can elect to complete an Educational Testing Services' Major Field Test. Major Field Tests are comprehensive undergraduate and MBA outcome assessments that measure critical knowledge and understanding in a major field of study including the ability to analyze and solve problems, understand relationships and interpret material from the major field of study.

“We feel very honored to be part of the effort to break the mold of traditional credentialing,” says Thomas Frey, Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute. “Many of life’s greatest experiences have been undervalued because of our narrow perspective of how to authenticate the value of learning. Over the coming years, we’ll see a huge need to re-skill our workforce, and Microdegrees™ have the potential to become the most recognizable credential in the world.”

For more information about the Microdegree program, people can either go to the website, Edevate LLC - edevate.com, or contact Gareth N. Genner, CEO of Edevate - Cell: 404-791-5973, Email: ggenner@edevate.com.

This is an exclusive interview between Thomas Frey, Executive Director of DaVinci Institute and Mats, the creator of the Ruby programming language. The video provides an interesting background behind the creation of the Ruby language and how it became such a success today.